Whereas the Province had previously established Dike Improvement Districts and has now designated local government as a diking authority, removing these powers from Improvement Districts who are unable to access funding for repair and maintenance of dikes, without adequate consultation with both Improvement Districts and local governments; And whereas the Province has not provided an overall assessment of the dikes or identified sustainable funding associated with the full capital cost of repair and on-going maintenance of dikes under the jurisdiction of Improvement Districts, and dikes with no local authority, of which 20 percent in the Province are located within the Regional District of Central Kootenay: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM encourage the Province to engage in further consultation with Improvement Districts and local government to discuss the overall impact of this decision on rural BC communities with populations under 20,000.
Ministry of Forestry, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development The Province a has proactively empowered local governments as diking authorities, and b given direction that, going forward, new dikes can only be built by local governments e.g. no new improvement district dikes. The extension of diking authority alone does not impose anything on local governments. Local governments have a key role to play in the management of risk when making decisions on changes in land use. In addition, local governments have strong fiscal management frameworks and the potential for economies of scale in the acquisition of expertise. Local governments are responsible for financing the works to protect new or more intensive developments, which encourages adequate prevention and mitigation measures. The Ministry acknowledges that there are considerable challenges that face diking authorities e.g. Dike Improvement Districts, particularly around access to funding. The Ministry acknowledges that the Regional District of Central Kootenay has a unique challenge due to the local physiography, which has led to numerous flood structures of varying design, maintenance and ownership no local authorityorphan structures. The Ministry has not decided to, nor is it currently considering requiring local governments to take over Dike Improvement Districts. However, the Ministry has suggested that Dike Improvement Districts work with local governments or First Nations in order to access the funding available. The mutual interests include emergency management, regulation floodplain bylaws, land development bylaws e.g. setbacks, taxation local services bylaw and access to funding. These interests support conversion of Diking Improvement Districts to local governments, but it is not a requirement. There currently are no plans to engage in further consultation with Dike Improvement Districts and local government to discuss the overall impact of the decision to designate local governments as diking authority. However, the Provincial Flood Safety Section Victoria, BC is in the process of leading several province-wide studies which are intended to provide the first steps in assessing existing dikes both under the ownership of a diking authority and those that are orphan no authority. These include a Dike Consequence Classification Study, a Provincial Dike Crest survey and an Orphan Dike Assessment. The intention of these studies is to provide stakeholders primarily local governments with baseline information for decision making and potential governance of dikes and assist in determining the most appropriate and cost-effective delivery of flood protection.